Infinite
by What A Lovely Disaster
Summary: There was something in Oblivion...and now it wants out. Sacrifice. Love. And a chance at Infinity. A Yuffentine. And that's why you should read it.
1. Nothing to Bury, Nothing to Burn

*sigh*

My name is What a Lovely Disaster, and I have a problem. I am a perfectionist. I went back (note to self: NEVER AGAIN!) and looked at the earlier chapters. Le gasp! It was horrifying- spelling mistakes, weird paragraphs, plot holes, crappy formatting, and a host of other problems. So, I decided to rewrite. Instead of just re-submitting the chapters, I have decided to keep the old one and update that, and then refine it and post it as Infinite: The Rewrite. Kind of a weird system, but exactly how I write non-fanfiction. If this bothers any of you, feel free to tell me. Just figured I'd tell you. Please don't forget to review. While really, I write for my own pleasure and entertainment, I go through the effort of uploading in hopes that someone else may enjoy it as well. So, your comments are welcome, and much appreciated. A special thanks goes out to the people who reviewed, author-alerted, or favorite'd. You rock my striped socks off!

3 W.A.L.D.

Do not own. Do not seek to own. Only borrow. Short time. Kthxbai.

XXX

Mako Reactor- Weiss's Domain

_Leviathan, please, no. It's...it's too much. I can't take it... it hurts too much. Sofuckingmuch. So please, just..._

_Just let me die._

The pain was eating away at her insides, like swallowed fire. She convulsed in the dim, chaotic core of Oblivion; and in her agony, the girl forgot her name, and the dimensions of her body. She was nothing, everything; she was misery itself. It was worse than airships, worse than being your father's pawn, worse than thunderstorms when you're five years old and all alone.

XXX

_It felt like it had been here forever. It waited in the darkness, colder than Shiva's breath, unable to perish, but no longer strong enough to escape. It had wandered into Oblivion, curious, looking for something, something it had not had in a long time. What was it looking for? It had been so long..._

_Something familiar assaulted its senses, instantly attracting its attention. The thing it was looking for! It was close! The aura grew stronger, and it followed it to the source. Something new was struggling in the darkness- it wanted to comfort the new thing- it was making noises, like it was in pain._

/It will be over soon/, _it thought to the crying being._ /Soon you will join the rest of us. Shh, now. It's not so bad./ _The thing extended a tendril of energy to touch the New Thing. That was when _It_ happened. One minute it had been hovering over the New Thing, and the next, it was nowhere. No, not __nowhere, it was...Inside the New Thing, trapped in a pretty flesh cage. It tried to separate, to escape, but the last of its energy was used up. _

_/_I should have learned the first time not to touch things I don't know anything about.../

_It slid into unconsciousness._

XXX

If possible, the air in Oblivion became even more oppressive- it felt like she was lying in a pool of cement. The pressured feeling increased, reaching a peak, and then abruptly, it stopped. She almost blacked out for a moment, when the pain started again, coming back threefold. The edges of her vision went gray, and she could feel the numbness spread through her limbs. She waited for death, and its subsequent relief, letting her eyes close. _I'm sorry, Vincent. I'm sorry that I never told you. I'm sorry that I will never raise Wutai from the ashes of the War. I'm sorry I couldn't see this last fight through. But it's better this way, I think. A ninja should die in battle; and I'll get to see Aerith and Mother- _

Her morbid thoughts were cut off by the warm, strong, ALIVE arms that wrapped around her shoulders and curled under her knees. From her half-closed eyes, she registered red cloth and black leather- her demonic savior had come to rescue her- and not a moment too soon-she really had been ready to die. Her cheek was pressed against a metal buckle, but she couldn't summon the energy to move her cheek form the sharp surface. _Safe._ It was in these arms that she felt at home- the first home in a long time, since the silver-haired psychopath had slain her mother. By the time she felt the Mako light on her eyelids, she was out of the dreamlike state that Oblivion had induced. _Dying? Here? The Great Ninja Yuffie never gives in! Hah!_

Subconsciously, she _had_ known who had rescued her- who else _could _it be?- but she still felt her cheeks warm when she saw the concerned, red gaze of her comrade.

_Heh. Vincent Valentine. Looking studly as ever, I see. Here I am, drenched in a cold sweat, three seconds to VomitVille, and you don't even have the grace to look winded. _

But that was Vincent for you. The man of many sins, many years. You could put him through hell, and he would come back, little worse for wear. Although he proclaimed guilt, most of it was not his to bear.

But that was Yuffie for you. The girl of many titles, of many faces. She was a skilled actor, layering personalities and faces and _souls. _Though she appeared innocent, she had more than a few sins to her name.

They made quite the pair.

"You alright?" he asked, kneeling, looking her up and down, checking for injury- the thing about Oblivion, though, was that it damaged your mind first, and then your internal organs, working up and out- and the memories, no, hallucinations, she had seen in Nero's darkness had shaken her badly. She could have been dying, and no one would have been able to tell at first glance.

"What the heck was that?" Yuffie cringed at the shrill, panicked tone of her voice. _C'mon! Pull yourself together! You've faced worse! You're a ninja! Act like one, for Leviathan's sake! _

Her mental pep talk was interrupted when Nero answered her question. "Oblivion, perhaps."_ Gawd, that guy has a creepy voice. You could almost imagine it drifting from the driver's seat of a windowless, white van, inviting innocent children to partake in a bit of candy. Eww. _Yuffie wrinkled her nose at her own vile thoughts.

Nero's slimy voice continued to assault the ears of the general populace. "My darkness… can absorb as well as extract almost anything." His eyes narrowed slightly, the bright gold disks reflecting the Mako-blue glow. _Eerie. _"However, some things remain..." He extended a heavily tattooed arm, palm facing up. The same oily black stuff that made up oblivion appeared, pulsating gently. "…Things as black as the heart of a daemon…" He continued to stare pointedly at Vincent. The Tsviet's voice was soft and low, a sultry crooning that sent shivers of primal fear down her spine. "Ahh… the essence of death… its ululations are like a lullaby."

"How can you...!" She didn't know how to finish that sentence- it was all just really horrible. Vincent turns to face the Tsviet. "Yuffie. Stay here," he commanded in that whispery, gravelly voice that made her wish he talked more. _A voice I could fall asleep to, fall in love with._

_It's not like I _can _go anywhere, Vincent. Don't think I could even use my shuriken. _

Nero deigns to speak again. "Ahh...yes, you were invulnerable to the darkness." He lifts his arms, and darkness billows out, a wave that wraps around the two men before receding, leaving empty space in its wake.

The ninja did the only thing she _could _do- she waited. She waited for him to return, which he did, along with a broken Nero. But, from here on, she couldn't protect him- the final part of this tale was his alone- and she hated it.

Time passed in a blur, and yet crawled past in agonizing slowness. Yuffie watched as Omega fell, and as Vincent disappeared in twisting, crimson light.

She waited for him to return, or for a body to show up.

She waited for a sign from fucking Leviathan.

Every day she searched the ruins of Midgar. The Lifestream had not yet returned to the planet, and corpses littered the battlefields, unable to decompose.

Three weeks later, it was in the maze-like interior of the old Plate, that she saw it- the silvery, three-headed beast dangling from an I-beam.

She sat there, cradling the Cerberus attachment in her hands; it was cold and heavy as the thoughts in her mind. _Leviathan...he...he isn't coming back. He's just...gone. Nothing to bury, nothing to burn._

She felt the walls of her mind come crashing down around her. And that was when it started.

Impulses that weren't quite hers, thoughts that seemed like imperfect puzzle pieces- close enough to fit if forced, but _wrong._

She left without warning, one night.

And simply ceased to _be._


	2. Unpleasant Realities

Still don't own it.

Sorry about the crap formatting. FF was being a manwhore, and I didn't have the patience. So I just added dividers. EVERYWHERE! o.O Review! Or I will set my zombie kitten army on youuuuu!

* * *

The call came at midnight, when Vincent was sleeping. He felt an intense displeasure towards his phone, which was shrilly scolding him for not picking up _right away_, escalating steadily in volume. He had hoped that whoever was calling would give up and call back in the morning, but after ten rings, it was still going strong. Resigned, the gunman groped blindly for the mobile on the nightstand. Midnight calls were never good- it usually meant the world needed saving- and Vincent was _just not in the mood_.

"Hello?"

"Vincent. It's Reeve." The WRO commissioner's voice was too loud for the hour, but the concerned tone got the gunman's attention. Something was wrong.

"Sorry to wake you, but it's important. Two hours ago, there was an assassination attempt on Lord Godo. Thankfully, he is unharmed. But…" he trailed off.

A pit formed in the bottom of Vincent's stomach. "And Yuffie?"

"She hasn't contacted anyone in the past three months. That in itself isn't unusual, but this is a very _inconvenient_ time for her to go off the map. If the Kisaragi line ends with Godo, the throne would go to the only other family with royal blood- the Suzuki clan, and _their_ political views could easily start another war." Vincent could hear the underlying statement. _This isn't just about Yuffie. This is about the world. _To some extent, this bothered him- in his mind it was comrades before anything else- but he knew that Reeve was responsible for the Planet, not just the rag-tag group of warriors.

"You think Yuffie has been assassinated?" Vincent asked flatly. The words were difficult to say aloud, but the gunslinger forced them out anyway.

* * *

That was the story of his life, the two choices that seemed to be a common theme- face whatever unpleasant reality was before him, or be _consumed._

_

* * *

_"It's a possibility. If indeed their lineage ends with Godo, arrangements need to be made to prevent a battle for the throne."

Again, he was irked by the cold, factual way Reeve discussed the ninja's disappearance, but resisted the urge to snap at the man, choosing instead to focus on saving his _friend._

"Do you have any idea where she might be? Where was she last seen?"

"Her last credit card transaction was here in Junon, three months ago. However, there's something else- two weeks after that last withdrawal, there was a rash of thefts in the small mining station near the Materia Mines west of the city. It's just a gut feeling, but I think you should check that out first. I'll mobilize the rest of AVALANCHE." The commissioner sighed."And Vincent. Don't let anyone know she's missing, although I trust you already thought of that. We need to keep this entire matter out of the media."

"Understood." was all he said, closing the phone with an audible snap.

Vincent sighed, pulling on his gear. Even with the others searching, it would be nearly impossible to find her. The world was just too big, not to mention that the girl they were trying to find was a master of the ninja arts. If she didn't want to be found, then even the gods themselves couldn't bring her out of hiding.

In answer to his thoughts, his demons spoke to him, their voices intertwining and twisting, barely coherent.

/let US hAve CONtrOl. WE wILL seEK-FInD-locATE tHe girl-THe liGhT-ThE enerGY./

(Why?) Vincent asked.

/PUNy HumAN-LOwLy being-inFERioR SOUL. OuR ReasoNs aRe nOT fOR yOu tO kNOw. We oFFer oUR AsSistANce. YoU WaNT To fINd tHe GirL. WE aRe tHE meANs tO yoUR END. In ExChaNGE, wE CaN fEeL tHe aIr-tHE mooNliGhT-thE WiND?/

He weighed his choices- use his darker nature to find Yuffie before something else did, or waste time searching alone, letting his morals get in the way, losing precious time and risking the life of his comrade. The demons were unpredictable and prone to random violence- could he let himself unleash these monsters on the world?

* * *

He found that for _her_, he would.

* * *

(Hurt no one. I will let you walk again.)

/ProMIse. We WilL KeeP.-OuR ThANKs. YoU hAvE./ As they grew more excited, their thought patterns became jumbled, less clear. Vincent could no longer make out what they were saying; but it didn't matter, because he was drifting away, becoming _less and less and less_ until he was nothing at all.

The night belonged to them.

XXX

/IN hERe./

Vincent stumbled as his body was given back to him, the unpleasant sensation of flesh and bone and _existence_ sent him reeling. He had forgotten how tired drawing on the demons made him. Shaking his head to clear his swirling vision, he examined his surroundings. It was a mountainous area, the cliffsides marred by cracks. Near one of the fissures, there were scuffmarks in the loose, gray-tinged dirt, with a few rust colored stains that gave the gunman a deep sense of dread. An arterial bleed.

It turned out to be the entrance to a small cave system. The path doubled back several times, and although the sealed darkness was disorienting, his senses told him he was heading deeper into the earth. His short journey ended when the smell hit him- the nauseating stench of rotting, infected flesh. As if things couldn't get any worse.

Something rustled, not too far from him. Cursing himself for not bringing a flashlight, he dug out a lighter. The flame was laughably weak against the darkness, but it was enough to tell him what he needed to know.

He had found Yuffie.

XXX

Bwah. Cliffie. Or not, if you read the original fic.

A big thank you to my first reviewer, serenbach. Cookies to you!

Also, love to those of you who fav'd and subbed.

You all rule.


	3. A Crimson Shroud for The White Rose

Hello, my fabulous people! Another update for you! Much love to ya! Don't forget to review. It makes me sad when I see that people read, but they don't say anything! Tell me how you feel!

"Yu...ffie?" It really held no common characteristics with the girl he knew, except that the body was wearing a leg brace, and a shruiken lay not far away, one of its deadly points buried in the earth. Her arm was bent grotesquely, as though it had one too many joints. A yawning gash from the top of her left shoulder to right hip was clearly infected, and the source of the terrible smell. She was completely still, no rise and fall of her chest.

She was... gone.

He wanted nothing more than to lay down next to her, join her in eternal sleep. But he had a duty to carry out, much as he hated to disturb her grave.

Unbuckling his cloak, he wrapped the ninja up, a crimson burial shroud for the White Rose, and carried her out into the light. She was lighter than he remembered, little more than a breath in his arms.

_Must have just passed...she isn't even dissolving yet. Too late. I'm always too late to save them._

In the sunlight, she looked even worse, sallow-skinned and broken. Vincent lay her on a slab of rock, feeling his throat tighten. Whoever did this to her would pay, and pay dearly. He reached up to brush away the dirt on her cheek, and felt what he never expected to feel- the slightest breath warming his palm. He reached for her wrist, feeling for a pulse. Eyes widening in shock, he sat back.

It didn't make any sense. With the severity of her wounds, she should have been dead three times over, yet, every thirty seconds, there was a quiet wheezing noise a puff of warm air, and an accompanying heartbeat.

With renewed hope, he used up his entire supply of curatives, but strangely, the wounds would not heal, getting no better, but not degrading, either. He pressed against her pulse point again, and found that it was strong, if a little fast. He jumped as a corpse-like hand snapped up to grab his wrist. Silver eyes focused on him, burning in intensity. Her voice was like cold water on a hot day- shocking, but gods, did it feel good.

"You need to run. I can't control-she'll-I'll..." and then her harsh grip relaxed.

As she lay still again, her color rapidly returned, the wounds miraculously closing. In mere moments she looked more like the old Yuffie, but at the same time completely different- perceptible differences in the set of her face, the way her features seemed sharper, streamlined. It was almost as if someone had taken out the human element, replacing it with something perfect, yet stone cold.

She stirred slightly, then sat up, pinning him with eyes the color of molten rock, a bright, fiery gold. Vincent tried to move back, but he couldn't even blink. His entire body was immobilized.

Not-Yuffie wrapped two long arms around his neck and pulled his head down, so close that their noses touched.

_Nare se to kai-e-ta sere to re ro xaoc?_

The voice echoed in his mind, a metallic language that was unfamiliar to him. In getting no reaction, the Yuffie-thing tried in a much more familiar tongue, still mentally, _you smell of Chaos, Hume. Why?_

"Chaos?" he asked, aloud, adding, "What does _he _have to do with any of this?"

_Speaking is difficult for me and requires much energy. If I fall unconcious—well, never mind that. I will relay information to you via thought transference. Respond if you understand. _Her voice held a mixture of derision, humor, and curiosity.

"Uhmm…" Distrust and confusion colored his voice. "What did you do to Yuffie?"

The woman smirked. _Demonic possession sound familiar?_

"You're… one of _them_?"

Her face wrinkled in displeasure. _If you mean to insinuate that I am on the same level as your Hellmasker, or the Galian, YOU ARE WRONG. _Then her expression became smirkingly superior once more. _But yes, I am what your lot call a demon. You can call me Azara. It's a close approximation in your language._

Something in her face reminded him of Chaos, which hardly did anything to help his mood. "Where. The. Hell. Is. Yuffie?" he growled. He could feel the remaining demons straining to get free, fueled by his anger.

_The ninja girl? She's in limbo. Not in good shape, though. Which brings me to my next point._ Azara steepled her fingers and looked at him slyly. _You see, we're in a bit of a time crunch. I managed to keep her stable for awhile, and she remained at the threshold of death. I can only hold this form for about, say, four days. And when time runs out and she changes back, she will be in the same state you found her in. When that happens, she will only have a few short minutes to live. Unless…_ The being grinned, exposing fanglike incisors. _Unless you help me. _

"Help you?" Things were going downhill at a remarkable speed.

_Help me find Chaos and bring him back. I see now that you were a host to my mate. That explains the smell. _She had been perusing his thoughts as one might a novel; Vincent glared at her, and tried to close off his mind. It didn't work, so he switched gears, and tried to distract her.

"Mate?" The idea was foreign to him; the demon had always seemed violence obsessed—not a nurturing bone in his body.

_Yes. Is it so strange that demons love? We are children of the Planet as well, perhaps better children for not destroying our Mother. Yes, we love. We do not marry- such a flimsy bond is unbecoming of our ancient, noble kind. My life-bond with Chaos can keep him in check, like the protomateria. _

Even in his head, the voice seemed full of…. Regret? Sadness? It was hard to tell.

Suddenly she seemed to jerk herself away from the topic, regaining control of the conversation, voice returning to the catty, superior tone she had abandoned when speaking of Chaos.

_I need to know how to implant a demon into someone's consciousness. Unfortunately, we cannot truly exist unless we are given a human in which to inhabit. We are energy, you are mass. Combined, we become a force to be reckoned with- strong and fast beyond words, immortal._

"Tell me first," he said conversationally, "how exactly you came to inhabit the body of my _friend._"

_I was part of the material that was absorbed by Nero the sable. When the girl, Yuffie, was also __consumed, her life force drew me in. She _reeked _of demons- not just Chaos, but other, less powerful ones as well. I admit, I was...curious. I reached out to touch her- the next thing I know, I'm like _this.

She gestured to her body, which Vincent realized too late was still wearing Yuffie's shredded clothing. She still wouldn't give him his muscular control back, and he was getting quite the eyefull.

_When I recovered slightly, I tried to speak with her. Unfortunately, she did not respond well to my presence, or the physical changes I brought. Her body tried to protect her by shutting down, but, in her delirium ,she had a rendezvous with an armed man, and was badly hurt. I could have helped her, but even then, her resistance was remarkably firm. I managed to get her to this mining town before she bled out completely. Human strength of mind is quite admirable. She broke free of my influence and made it to this cave system- I suppose- to die alone, not wishing danger on others, knowing that she was not in total control. Quite noble of her, really._

The story fell perfectly in with Reeve's theory, and Vincent had no choice but to believe that this..._thing_...was the remnants of his friend.

"I accept your offer. As long as the girl is unharmed, then I will assist you in finding your mate. "

_Good. But first, a few conditions…_

XXX

I feel uneasy because I didn't edit this section as much as I did the others. I really couldn't find anything else to do it it though, aside from a few wimpy-ass corrections I made to the dialogue. Meh.

Leave a review. No reviews, no updates. I have other things to do, ya know. But I see a few of you are enjoying this, as you have subscribed. I am most flattered. For that, I thank you. Until next time...or not...heheheh...

WALD

PS: My parents finally sold our old house, and since I am going to community college and still living with them, I get to help drag stuff around. Really, the nerve! Anyway, point is, there probs won't be any updates for awhile. :(


	4. Choices, Choices, Valentine

I giveth thiseth chaptereth toeth Nami, my lovelyeth multi reviewereth. Glad you like! Special mention goes to the rest of you fabulous people out there, faving, reviewing, and alerting.

I don't own it. Although I do pwn in general. And now, brought to you by the power of caffeine, I give you chapter FOUR! What will the future hold? Nyuk nyuk nyuk...

"...Conditions?" Vincent asked warily.

_Yes. _She sketched a complicated design into the earth between them while she continued. _First. Once we find a way to integrate Chaos, you will once again play host, or find someone willing to take your place._

_Second. You will find someone to be _my _host, and ensure that this person will stay by my mate's host's side. For all of eternity._

_Third-you will do your utmost to fulfill your end of the deal, as I will do my best to un-occupy your friend._

_Do you accept these terms? Azara extended her hand._

He made a choice, perhaps the most difficult choice a human could ever make.

Gods, how he had craved death. When he found he'd been freed of the weight that was Chaos, the thought of finally being able to rest was more precious than any reward given to him for saving the planet.

But he couldn't imagine making someone else suffer the way he did, watching things die and fade, while he lived, unchanging. He was almost glad for the thirty years' sleep- he didn't have to see the people he knew back then wither away into dust.

"I find it unacceptable," Vincent stated, more calmly than he felt, "to foist this burden of unending life upon anyone else." That would be a sin perhaps greater than the ones he'd committed so far...

Azara smiled, revealing rather pointy incisors.

_Good, good. So we have a volunteer for host No. 1. Still, someone else is gonna get immortalized here-_

Uncomfortably, Vincent interrupted: "We'll get to that bridge when it comes." He really didn't want to think about that right now.

_Shall we seal the deal, then?_ She offered a slender hand, holding it over the design. _It's a binding contract- it will allow me to keep control of her body until the contract is fulfilled or broken._

"Can't you just take my word for it?" 'Skeevy.' That was how Yuffie would have described the deal.

_You're a human. Your words mean nothing to me, _she sneered. _It was your lot that caused this whole mess, giving men the power of demons! _He saw Nero, without the wraps and straps, darkness streaming out of every pore; Azara, a ball of lava-colored energy laced with streaks of cerulean reaching out to touch the matter-and the images stopped.

_Enough. I do not want to remember. _Her eyes darkened, melancholic.

_I do not have the energy to hold this form on my own for very long. The contract will fix that by borrowing energy from both parties- you and I, until the terms are fulfilled._

"Very well." Vincent held out his hand- he could feel his choices narrowing into this one option- a deal with a devil.

The devil in question smiled toothily, and took his hand.

Where their palms touched, an electrifying pain jolted. The wind picked up, raising dust, and causing the gunman to close his eyes. The pain and the wind died out when they broke contact. Vincent snatched his hand back the moment the demon let go, expecting to see third degree burns, at the very least- but all there was was a tiny black loop, in the center of the same complex diagram etched on the ground between them. He looked at her, questioning.

_My seal. Infinity. While Chaos is the embodiment of fire, which consumes without prejudice,I am water, which is continuous, adapting to change, always changing, always being changed. _She touched his forehead, and he could see beyond the human guise she wore. He noticed her features were ever-shifting, rippling, almost like gazing into moving water.

He flinched. _Not human. Despite her appearance, she was an ancient being. _He had briefly forgotten that, a dangerous mistake. He had to separate "Yuffie" and "Azara." Just because the ninja wouldn't hurt him didn't mean the demon had the same reservations.

Azara smirked, knowing her other-ness bothered the man. _Balance is important- you cannot have too much life, or too much death. I think you know that better than anyone, Valentine. _Azara stood, brushing off Yuffie's battered and stained clothes. _Let's be off then_. _I believe that our destination lies in Niebelheim. There are documents of your transformation stored there if her memories are accurate. But first, I could really use a bath and a change of clothes..._

"There is an inn in town. We can stop there for a short time, if you wish." He tried not to put too much stress on the words "short" and "time", but his patience was wearing thin. _Just when I thought I'd heard the last of demons and Neibelheim Mansion..._

Nyeh. A little short, but better than nothing at all. Rave on my lovelies! And don't forget to drop me a line! You guys that review are the reason we see updates before the new year, lol.

*grooves her way out*

:D, :3, and XP,

W.A.L.D.


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